Warming up in Dallas, TX

[Luu Mac]

Hi everyone-- My name is Luu Mac. I grew up in Dallas, went to college in Austin for architecture, and returned to Dallas to work in the industry for a couple of years. I spent some time in Durham, NC for a residency during my final year of college, where I started reading books on finance and real estate (most notably: Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller) to educate myself after work. It was then that I realized I should be investing in real estate to make my own design dreams come true. 

I bought my first property as soon as I could after graduating. I purchased a condo later on to do Airbnb hosting. It was wildly successful but I ran afoul of the HOA. Lesson learned: read the governing docs before buying a condo. I sold the condo and purchased a duplex. One half is rented to a long-term tenant, while the other half is rented via Airbnb. It has some nice zoning, so I'm hoping to acquire the adjacent lots and eventually develop something.

I left the corporate world in 2016 to invest full-time. The first fix-and-flip that I attempted totally flopped. I had to turn it into an Airbnb to cover the holding costs. I made plenty of mistakes on it (including some that I had read about already!) but it has taught me a lot. Better to make them now when the figures are smaller.

I've decided to focus on expanding my Airbnb business and acquiring more rentals in a focused area. Recently, my friend purchased a property near mine and is having me manage the Airbnb. It's led me to start figuring out how to scale (such as hiring a maid and using a laundry service).

My first property was a stroke of luck and is now going through a 1031 exchange (another first!). Hopefully it goes smoothly.

How'd I end up here? I heard about BiggerPockets years ago but it was until I started listening to the podcast recently that I realized I should probably be involved in this community.

Cheers,

Luu

[Joy D Pulliam]

Welcome Luu! I'm in Dallas as well. The lady I have been doing contract work for over the past few weeks kept talking about Airbnb so I did some research and just recently discovered what it is. LOL She seems to be very successful with it. She has properties in the Kessler park area of north oak cliff.

Well, best of luck to you!

Joy